Police out in force to prevent Easter road fatalities

More police will be out this weekend as the organisation looks to prevent deaths on the road, but there's no telling how many will be on patrol.

National road policing manager Superintendent Steve Greally said it was up to each district to enact a road safety plan for the Easter holiday period, which starts at 4pm.

Nationwide there will be a 4km/h tolerance for all static and mobile speed cameras, while officers themselves will assess each case of speeding on its merits.

But the target from those at headquarters is for officers to target seatbelts and impairment, be it through alcohol, drugs, or fatigue.

Mr Greally said he expected a lot of traffic stops and checkpoints to be operated over the weekend to keep an eye on drivers.

"Success for us is not issuing tickets," Mr Greally said.

"If we got through this whole thing, nobody died and we didn't have to issue even half as many infringements, that would be success because it would mean people are doing the right things, and that's all we really want."

Last Easter, seven people died, 45 were seriously injured and 155 people suffered minor injuries on the roads.

Mr Greally said it is up to each region how they police the roads, but they don't want any deaths this time around.

"That's a matter for our district staff to determine, as to how they go about policing their districts," Mr Greally said.

"What we do is we provide them with the intelligence that we have, the outcomes that we're seeking, and they go about figuring out how they're actually going to deliver that.

"So, we'll have checkpoints, driver stops, all sorts of things will be carried out across the country."

As of Tuesday, 118 people had died on the roads this year, one fewer than at the same stage in 2018.